Wat Phnom
9 photo(s) in Wat Phnom
Wat Phnom
Located in the intersection of street 96 and Norodom Boulevard, this is the legendary founding place of the name, Phnom Penh. Legend has narrated that in 1372, a wealthy widow named Penh fished a floating Koki tree out of the mighty Mekong River.
Inside the hole of the tree, she found five statues of the Buddha, four in bronze and one in stone. She then located an auspicious place and elevated the location to construct a shrine to house her statues. The place became the highest point in the area and came to be known by people as Wat Phnom. 'Wat' stands for temple and 'Phnom' means hill in Khmer. People began building their homes around the hill and soon a town and then a city evolved. Later, the city became known as Phnom Penh, after the hill (Phnom) and its founder (Lady Penh).
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